The new
conditions are all very rare – Public Health England (PHE) expects only small
numbers of cases to be found each year. However, if detected quickly, medical
interventions can all be made to prevent or reduce the harm wrought by
untreated conditions, preventing severe brain damage or death in many cases.

PHE announced
the decision to expand the newborn screening panel last May. Wales is due to
begin the wider screening from next month, but no decision has been made for Scotland
and Northern Ireland.

The Act provides federal funding and encourages the use of a uniform
panel of 31 conditions by all states, which is still a much larger group of
conditions than those tested for in the UK. It also introduces new requirements
for parental consent to federally-funded research using the stored newborn
bloodspot sample cards.

Long-term supporter
of the Act Congressman Simpson commented: "Besides the obvious benefit to
families who suffer an enormous emotional and economic burden when a one of
these conditions goes undiagnosed for too long, this legislation is a powerful
tool for savings in our already overburdened health care system".

One news report
uses the startling illustration of the diagnosis of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), comparing the treatment costs
for a bone marrow transplant (if possible) of around $100,000 compared with $2
million for the first two years of life alone. SCID is screened for in 25 US
states following recommendation
by the US government in 2010, and the FDA has just approved the first commercial screening
test, which may expand uptake since some states require newborn screening to
use only FDA-approved tests.